L-R Colin Cooper, MD of Avondale Environment and Richard Lochhead Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment at the opening of the Polmont MRF in February 2012.

A ‘major’ materials recovery facility (MRF) in Polmont, Scotland, is set to close just 15 months after opening due to ‘increasing operating costs, the reduction in volume and market value of recyclates and rising refuse-derived fuel (RDF) disposal prices’.

The £20 million facility, owned by Avondale Environmental Ltd (Avondale) was first opened by Environment Minister Richard Lochhead on 1 February 2012, and processed up to 200,000 tonnes of waste from ‘several Scottish councils’ every year – the equivalent of all of Glasgow’s black bag waste.

According to Avondale, the facility diverted around 60 per cent of this waste from landfill through recycling and developing RDF for energy production.

If proposals to close the plant are confirmed (following staff consultations), the plant will come offline on 31 May, and could see up to 70 redundancies.

Economic difficulties

According to Director of Avondale Advanced Waste Treatment Ltd, John Holt, the closure proposal was triggered byincreasingly difficult economic factors.

Holt said: “While we believe the longer-term opportunities for professionally operated businesses such as ours are positive, increasing operating costs, the reduction in volume and market value of recyclates and rising refuse-derived fuel (RDF) disposal prices are having a direct impact on the sustainability of the MRF.

“Having carefully considered all of the issues and options, we have proposed to close the MRF from 31st May 2013 and have started collective redundancy consultation with employee representatives.

“Right now, our priority is to work with staff throughout the consultation process and to keep our customers fully informed.”

Avondale operates one of Scotland’s largest landfill sites, but opened the MRF last year in response to ‘the major social, economic and environmental changes being driven by the Scottish Government’s Zero Waste Action Plan’.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The focus of Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan is on high-quality recycling, which means separating recyclable materials at source wherever possible. Thanks to this approach Scotland’s recycling rate continues to increase, enabling valuable materials to be turned into new products, benefitting the economy.

“The government and its partners continue to work with the operators of the Avondale facility and councils to examine options to minimise short-term impacts, and to look at longer term actions to maintain a presence, and employment, at the site.

“This will be an anxious time for Avondale’s employees and their families and the Scottish Government will offer them every support possible. Our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE), is standing ready to provide support for any employees who may be affected.”

Loss of capacity ‘a major blow’ for recycling in Scotland

However, there are now concerns from Scottish MPs, including Scottish Labour’s Claire Baker MSP, over the viability of having ‘dozens of different recycling policies and objectives’.

Commenting on the news, Baker said that she was “deeply concerned” about the loss of jobs and wants “reassurances that everything is being done to save these jobs and the plant”.

She continued: “The closure of this facility, just over a year after it was opened by Richard Lochhead, is both a major blow for a number of Scottish councils and for the SNP’s plans to reduce waste going to landfill.

“If this plant closes next month, a number of councils will need to find alternatives for their waste, which may have a substantial financial impact for them and for their recycling rates.

“We also need to ask what this closure means for recycling and diverting waste in Scotland. Commercial operators will look upon this announcement with concern and the loss of capacity is a major blow for recycling in Scotland. The SNP Government now needs to roll up its sleeves and help to find a solution to keep this plant open.

“It also raises questions about whether having dozens of different recycling policies and objectives really makes sense any more. Richard Lochhead said this plant was an ‘important step’ in reducing waste. He now needs to explain what he’s going to do given that it looks likely that the plant will close in a matter of weeks.”

The landfill operation is a separate business managed by Avondale Environmental Ltd and is not included in the consultation process.

Read more about the Scottish Government’s waste regulations.